Mistaken Identity (film)
Mistaken Identity is a 2006 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath and stars the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, and Dick Van Dyke. The film had been under development at DreamWorks since at least 2001. Although it is a computer animated film, it blends animation with computer generated, 3D scenery and objects that take up 20% of its environment. It features a musical score by Heitor Pereira, with songs produced by the musician Jack Johnson. It was the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, which acquired the live-action DreamWorks studio in 2006. The film was released on February 10, 2006, by Paramount Pictures, and has since became a critical and financial success, by earning $468 million from a budget of $70 million. It also received positive reviews by getting an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for the song "Upside Down". The film launched a franchise with a series of films, including a sequel Mistaken Identity 2 in 2009 and a final film Mistaken Identity 3 ''in 2015. Plot The introduction of the movie is a cartoon short where we are introduced to a happy, artistic, and mischievous but lonely little orphaned monkey (Frank Welker) somewhere in the jungle. Ted (Will Ferrell) is an employed guide at the Bloomsberry Museum. We are introduced to teacher Ms. Maggie Dunlop (Drew Barrymore) and her students who come to the museum often but they are the only regular visitors. Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke) heartbreakingly informs Ted that the museum will have to close because it is no longer making any money. Bloomsberry's son, Junior (David Cross), wants to tear down the museum and replace it with a parking garage. Ted is convinced to volunteer to go to Africa in place of Mr. Bloomsberry and bring back a mystical, forty foot tall idol known as "Lost Shrine of Zagawa" in the hopes that it will attract customers, much to Junior's envy. Ted is outfitted with a hideous yellow suit (which causes people to laugh at him) and boards a cargo ship to Africa despite his embarrassment. With the help of a tour guide and tour group, Ted finds the "Lost Shrine of Zagawa", but discovers it to be only three inches tall, much to his disappointment. Ted also encounters the little monkey on his expedition to Africa and gives the monkey his yellow hat. The monkey, who quickly grows fond of Ted, follows him and boards the cargo ship, unknown to Ted. Ted returns home and enters his apartment, only to receive a call from Bloomsberry telling him to report to the museum, so Ted can do an interview on the news. The monkey follows Ted to his apartment, the monkey is discovered busily repainting a posh apartment in full scale African animals and due to the strict "no pets allowed policy", Ted is evicted by grumpy doorman Ivan (Ed O'Ross). Ted returns to the museum and reveals to Bloomsberry the idol's size. Ted is kicked out of the museum by Junior after the monkey accidentally destroys an Apatosaurus skeleton. Ted and the monkey sleep outside in the park, and the next morning, Ted follows the monkey into the zoo, where Maggie and her young students name the monkey "George". George gets into trouble and begins dangerously floating away on balloons high up over the city, Ted takes flight as well. George's balloons are popped by spikes on a building and Ted saves him from falling to certain death. Ted and George make their way to the home of an inventor named Clovis (Eugene Levy), where George uses an overhead projector to increase the idol's size making it appear 40 feet tall. Ted and George head to the museum to show Bloomsberry the invention. Junior tries to convince his father that it would not be honest to fool the public, but the elder Bloomsberry sees it as the only way to save the museum. Wanting his parking garage, Junior foils Ted's plan by pouring a latte on the projector causing it to explode and frames George for it by giving the rest to him. Believing his life to be ruined, Ted allows animal control to take away George. Ted speaks with Ms. Maggie who helps Ted "see" what is really important in his life. Ted regrets the decision to give George to animal control, and boards George's cargo ship to get him back. Ted tells George that nothing else matters besides their "buddyship". In the hold of the ship, George discovers that when reflected in light, the idol reveals a pictogram with the message "turn your eye to the light, go from blindness to sight". It turns out that when held up to the sun, the small idol is actually a map to the real idol. They sail the ship back to Africa and George helps him find the real idol which is, indeed, forty feet tall. The idol is put in the museum, and the museum goes back in business and becomes more successful than ever when it becomes more hands-on because of the addition of Clovis's inventions, the interaction with Ms. Dunlop and her young students and, of course, George. Junior finally gets his parking garage but is upset that Ted is still working at the museum (and the fact that his plan didn't go the way he expected). Ivan invites Ted to move back to his apartment because he likes George, and Ted and Maggie almost start a romance, but George causes more trouble by starting up a rocket ship, forcing Ted to follow him. Cast ''Main article: List of Mistaken Identity characters * Will Ferrell as Ted Shackleford, George's friend. He is clumsy but resilient and compassionate. In a deleted scene, his last name is established as Shackleford. * Drew Barrymore as Margaret "Maggie" Dunlop, a teacher and Ted's love interest. She is named after Margaret Rey, one of Curious George's creators. * David Cross as Junior Bloomsberry, the son and only child of the museum's owner, who serves as the film's lead antagonist. * Dick Van Dyke as Mr. Bloomsberry, the kind, elderly owner of the museum. * Eugene Levy as Clovis, a museum employee who builds robotic animals to help him with his work. * Joan Plowright as Ms. Plushbottom, Ted's neighbor. She is an opera singer. * Frank Welker as George, a monkey who is compassionate and clever, with a proficiency in visual art. * Ed O'Ross as Ivan, the Russian doorman at Ted's apartment building. * Billy West as Manager * Tom McGrath as Salesman * Michael Chinyamurindi as Edu, Ted's African guide. * Michael Sorich as "Seen It" Cab Driver * Kath Soucie as Animal Control Receptionist * Clint Howard as Balloon Man Production Development On June 13, 2004, Tom McGrath announced that he will direct and direct a film titled "Mistaken Identity" which would be produced by DreamWorks Animation. Casting While searching for cast members, Will Ferrell was cast as Ted. Other cast members include Drew Barrymore, David Cross, and Dick Van Dyke. Animation In June 2016, PDI announced that they would create the animation for the film. Music Heitor Perira was hired to compose the score for this film despite various refusals. The soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on January 17, 2006, and the score was released on January 24 of that year by said company. Release Marketing Video game Main article: Mistaken Identity (video game) A video game was developed by Blitz Games, was published by Activision, and was released for on January 31, 2006 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable. It was later released on Nintendo DS on September 19, 2006. Fast food In January 2006, Burger King released 6 toys based on the characters from the film. Trailers * The teaser trailer was released on May 27, 2005, and was shown before Madagascar, Wondercolts, M.I.S.S.I.O.N., Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bad News Bears, Corpse Bride, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Chicken Little. * The theatrical trailer was released on November 15, 2005 on the home video release of Madagascar, and was shown in theaters before Metro Cone, Yours, Mine, and Ours, MYCUN: The Movie, and Hoodwinked!. Home media The film was released on DVD and HD DVD on September 26, 2006. It was later released on Blu-ray on January 23, 2007, becoming the first DreamWorks Animation film released on said format. Reception Critical response According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of the 205 reviews enjoyed this film, with an average rating of 8.5/10. It's critic consensus states, "Mistaken Identity ''takes an old concept and turns it upside-down with the laughs we need, an interesting storyline, and an overall atmosphere". On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 75 out of 100 based on 72 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Box office The film grossed $126 million in North America and $342 million internationally, bringing the worldwide total to over $468 million worldwide. It went on to debut $54 million at the weekend box office, finishing in first, beating ''The Pink Panther. At the time of its release, Mistaken Identity ''was the highest grossing animated film of 2018, before eventually being dethroned by ''Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Accolades Coming soon!